Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH, Marti MacGibbon, CADC-II, ACRPS, and Joseph Stoklosa, MD
Clinicians diagnosing and treating potentially trafficked patients with co-occurring addiction and mental illness should guard against expressing negative biases.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(1):23-24. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.1.ecas3-1701.
Incarcerated pregnant women are shackled while giving birth and routinely separated from their children immediately, which in many states leads to permanent termination of parental rights.
Punishing women who use drugs during pregnancy deters them from seeking prenatal care and entering drug treatment programs, and the relevant policies may unfairly target poor or minority women.
When a pregnant woman is knowingly causing harm to her unborn child, there are various legal interventions that can be taken to protect the rights if the fetus.